You might see sunshine, but James Kocher, Project Manager at Locus Energy, sees data. Lots of it. A graduate of the Earth Institute Sustainability Management (MS) program at Columbia University, Kocher recalls the words of his professor, "Director Steven Cohen would frequently remind us... 'you can't manage what you don't measure' and that is what big data is ultimately going to solve." Photovoltaics, what most people still call "solar panels," are gaining market share. In the first quarter of 2015 more than half of all new generation capacity brought online was solar, eclipsing natural gas. As solar power scales up, managing efficiency becomes important. Solar panels can be precisely controlled and monitored akin to a computer network to increase performance. As costs go down, more people adopt. "With regard to solar, big data is the key to increasing system production," Kocher explains.